It was in the City era where enormous transfer fees were not commonplace and Hughes admits he had work to do to bring in the Belgian .

Hughes, who takes the Potters to his old club tomorrow, said: “Was he the best money City have ever spent? Yeah. People will laugh and think it is easy to sell Manchester City – but not in those days. It was a leap of faith and fair play to him.

“We had to tell him what would happen in the future. Vinny was very clear, he wanted to come, he wanted to be successful and he wanted to be part of something.

“In terms of pound for pound, it has to be way up there in terms of my best. You look at certain levels of finance being thrown at mediocre players and it does not bear comparison.”

Sparky believes Kompany, 28, is now worth as much as £50m after signing a new five-year deal.

He said: “You look at current values and in the current market he is a huge asset for the club. If you try and replace him it will be difficult to get anyone in for the best part of £50m.

(Image: Julian Finney)

“He’s not motivated by anything other than winning as many trophies as he can. He’s a very rich young man and will be for the rest of his life but that does not motivate him.

”Vinny is very strong, great mentality and a real leader of men. He’s only a young man and will have more success internationally and club level.

“He demands things of himself and others. If truth be known he fancied himself as a midfield player rather than a centre-half.

“I played him there initially as we had Richard Dunne as club captain and Kolo Toure. He was very good in midfield. I really enjoyed working with him and he deserved his success.”